http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/barabajaba
high def video from barabajaba world music and percussion ensemble fromthe Big Island of Hawaii and Bay Area Claifornia, too. This song features a combo of west african, afro cuban and et indian music styles!
            
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BOBO MUSIC OF MALI 
The music for this CD was made at Centre Togola, the local community center, outside Sabalibougou. It is run by by director Kareem Togola. ‘Bougou’ means ‘village’ in Bombara language, although it is located in a city district inside a bustling marketplace on the outskirts of Bamako, Mali, West Africa. The community center houses local dancers, drummers and musicians, most of whom play in the center’s award-winning group. Many famous district groups from outside the city – and deep in the countryside – also pass through the center. This is how we were able to find some of the other groups and music we recorded as well. The music for this album is traditional ‘Bobo’ music. The Bobo speak Bobo, from the Mande family of languages. It is believed the Bobo have lived in Mali and western Burkina Faso since around 800 A.D. With their population numbering around 100,000, they are primarily agricultural. They also cultivate cotton, which they trade. A cornerstone of Bobo belief is that man maintaining a balance and harmony with Nature and that order be restored through ceremonies. Their primary deity, Wuro, who can not be described, orders all things. Dwo, revealed during mask ceremonies, is another major god. He lives in a mask until it is worn. Then, his spirit is fused with the spirit of the wearer, who is then empowered to communicate Dwo’s will to others. I heard this group on my first trip to Mali with my friend and executive producer, Paul Chandler. The CD was made using a high-quality flash recorder and excellent microphones. The sound is surprisingly clear and concise, as are the arrangements, playing styles and techniques. It is my goal, in a small way, to preserve the culture and heritage through the music my teachers, friends and I are presenting. As this is a labor of love, any profits made from these recordings will go directly to the musicians. —Michael Pluznick How do you find the drum or dance teacher who is right for you? Why do you even need a teacher? With out help, Djembe playing or conga playing can become repetitive and frustrating. Some of us try to learn on our own, from books, on line videos, DVD’s of Mamady Keita and playing to CD’s or I Tunes.  Drum instructor Michael P on congas @Barabajaba show Maybe we have a friend who plays a little already who knows how to hit the drum. However, if you want to excell, like anything else in life that is learned you need a good teacher. In NLP, one of the main themes is, “if one person can do it, anyone cam learn it” (or something to this effect. After many years of teaching I will say that for the most part I agree. If there is a willingness to learn almost anyone can do it. This means you, too! So who do we learn from?  percussion instructor Jesse Seymour Start with the instrument and style you want to learn. Is there a particular music you like to listen or play to? Look on line for dance classes. For example, if you are interested in learning to play west african drums, do a search for events, drum circles or dance classes in your area. You can go to these event and see the players (or teachers) perform and then contact with them directly. Often there are group classes at various community centers as well. Remember that a great player does not necessarily make a great teacher.  Jesse Seymour with barabajaba This is a mistake that many of us make. If you find someone you think you might want to study with, do a little backround research with their students, on line or elsewhere. There are djembe groups on yahoo you can join that are very informative as well as “djembe drum”, my facebook group where you can ask questions as well. For some of us it is trial and error or learn the hard way. Be wise and find a good teacher to start with. Once you start taking classes, be sure to practice everyday. Even if it is just 5 minutes. Many people go to a group class thinking this is enough, and come back week after week and never improve. It is frustrating for the teacher as well as the student. However, it is as simple as practicing what happened in the class often. Get a recording device, learn to take notes and if you can get together with other students in your class. You will be surprised how fast you can advnace if you follow these simple tips! “With out strong framework the house will collapse’. In this ‘follow along” video/ conga lesson we will begin to explore how to position your hands and also how to make basic sounds on the conga drum. This is part one When an established conga player transitions to learn to play djembe he or she has certain advantages and disadvantages. When you play congas, there is much emphasis on pushing in to the drum to make tone. On a goat skin djembe, do to the thin tight skin, you must pull the sound out.  work on pulling and keeping your hands in near the rim Despite this energetic difference, the technique for making tone is nearly the same, you just do not leave your hand in the drum as long, you alllow it bounce making one fluid hit and return motion, vs two seperate motions. I call it follow through. When you hit a baseball with a baseball bat you do not stop when you hit the drum. Your motion continues forward  left hand and right hand slap set up for final On djembe drum it is the same. You can not go through the drum so you allow your slap to spring back. This is something that needs to be practiced over and over. The “spring back”. One difficult thing for a conga player to loose, (myself included) is the cup motion of the conga closed slap. Many modern conga players actualy use an open slap similar to djembe these days especiay for the modern Afro Cuban techniques. Many Guinea djembe experts have a slap that is extremely close to the rim and uses very little of the hand where as the Cuban style traditionaly uses much of the hand. This is also hard for a conga player to put so little hand on the drum.  rt hand pre pull back to rim If anyone has seen Mohamed Diaby play he is an expert at the close to skin slap and made me a true believer of it’s power and sound output as well. So for all the conga players out there who want to also play djembe, really work on pulling your hands back closer to the rim for slap, tone and bass! Michael Pluzick takes the LP Galaxy Giovanni Series Congas for a test drive and demo. Watch here for full review coming soon!
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Copyright © 2010 Michael Pluznick - All Rights Reserved |
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